Thursday, 28 May 2015

Science & Politics of CBT for Psychosis

"Let me tell you about scientific management...And the theft of its concealment"
The Fall - Birmingham School of Business

Recently the British Psychological Society invited me to give a public talk entitled CBT: The Science & Politics behind CBT for Psychosis. In this talk, which was filmed (see link at the bottom), I highlight the unquestionable bias shown by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) committee (CG178) in their advocacy of CBT for psychosis.

The bias is not concealed, but unashamedly served-up by NICE as a dish that is high in 'evidence-substitute', uses data that are past their sell-by-date and is topped-off with some nicely picked cherries. I raise the question of whether committees - with such obvious vested interests - should be advocating on mental health interventions.

Tim Hecker - Live Room + Live Room Out

I present findings from our own recent meta-analysis (Jauhar et al 2014) showing that three-quarters of all RCTs have failed to find any reduction in the symptoms of psychosis following CBT. I also outline how trials which have used non-blind assessment of outcomes have inflated effect sizes by up to 600%. Finally, I give examples where CBT may have adverse consequences - both for the negative symptoms of psychosis and for relapse rates